Google is Hungry for Gingerbread

Om nom nom.

The Linux-based Android version 2.2, dubbed Froyo (frozen yogurt), isn’t even officially out yet and the blogosphere is abuzz with reports that the follow-up, Gingerbread, is due in the fourth quarter of this year.

During Google’s developer conference, Google I/O, the Internet giant yesterday rolled out a new royalty-free, open-source video/media format, labeled WebM, and Gingerbread is mentioned in what appears to be an inadvertent leak in the WebM FAQ.

“When will other Google products support WebM and VP8? WebM support in Android is expected in the Gingerbread release (currently planned for Q4, 2010). We expect many other Google products to adopt WebM and VP8 as they prioritize it with their other product requirements. Keep an eye on the WebM blog for announcements,” states the FAQ.

The WebM project, an industry initiative unveiled yesterday by Google in partnership with Mozilla, Opera and 40 other entities, “is dedicated to developing a high-quality, open video format for the Web that is freely available to everyone…”